Wim

Hey. Nicolaas, nice to meet you. It's been years since I have visited here. I used to run this blog. Nice to see it's still going. I am located in Kempton Joh'burg. Ek praat gewoonlik afrikaans, maar vir die amerikaners hou ek dit maar op Engels. Hulle wil graag volg wat word gese.

OOM HERMAN!!! Jammer ek kan OOM nie help nie!! English: Sorry Uncle Herman, I can't help you there!!

Hey, Herman, it's you still visiting this site! Keep well.

As my forge is outdoors, as you can see on my Gallery, I am forced to work outdoors. Normally that is fine, because the weather in South Africa is mostly sunny. But the sun can get quite hot, so I wear a wide rim hat, then it is actually very nice. You get used to working in full sunlight, and you learn to judge the color of the steel, after a couple of burns. However I am making plans to make a corrugated roof over the area of the anvils and the vice, about 2.5m x 4 m, that is about 8' x 12'. It will also prevent rain to weather my equipment. I will post pictures as soon as it's done. Wim.

Hi everybody, For those that are coming to the Forge In on the Saturday of the 28th November 2009 at Paul and Wiebke's plot, to close off the year, here is what is happening. You are welcome from about 8.30 AM. Paul has got the steel and the coal, just bring your safety gear and hammer and some handtools. Bring your own food and drinks for the during the day, and everything for the Bring and Braai. Some charcoal is welcome. To relief Wiebke, also bring your own plate, eating utensils and cups, dish drying cloth, toilet paper, camp chair. Make sure you bring everything, because the nearest shop is about 30 km from the plot. We are all going to make Christmas gifts and everybody that made or brought something goes home with something. It’s all about enjoying the day, and learning from each other. You can bring friends, as long as they share a real interest in Blacksmithing. From 16.00 hr we will probably start braaing (barbequeing) and eat and chat till you go home, 21.00 party is over, everybody will probably be too tired to make it later than that. How to get there: Take the R512 past Lanseria airport towards Broederstroom. At the T-junction turn Left Travel straight past the Hartebeespoort dam on your Right hand side At the T-junction turn Left After 12 km turn Right into dirt road Hartebeesfontein road After you passed over the Bridge, at the T-junction go left After 300 m you see Paul’s place marked by a big pair of Blacksmith Tongs on the Left Turn in the Drive way and drive through to the smithy. Hope to see you there, If you get lost phone Paul at 083 400 9983 Blacksmith greetings, Wim van Dijk, :cool: 083 263 7325

Dear everyone, Since our becoming a distinct group of Blacksmiths at Wheel at the Vaal 2006, and our starting a Forum for South African Blacksmiths on www.iforgeiron.com we haven’t only grown as a group, but we have also made contact with Blacksmiths in the far corners of South Africa. I have at this moment 44 Blacksmiths in six of the nine provinces of our country on record. Some we know from iforgeiron.com, others from the Ystervegter forge in at Coenraad’s place and the forge in at Paul’s place, and the ever growing “Wheels at the Vaal” event. This not even close to everybody that is involved in Blacksmithing. There are numerous lone smiths out there, that we don't know about yet. If you are or want to be involved in Blacksmithing and you live in South Africa, or maybe in one of the neighbouring countries, I would like to put your name on our mailing list. If you want to be on our list, please send me your name and surname, email, cell phone, the area or town you live in, your level as you see yourself, for example, wannabe, amateur, hobby artist blacksmith, professional artist blacksmith, professional farrier, etc. Also what facility you have to do blacksmithing, basic forge, anvil, hand tools, at home, at work or at someone else, so that we have an idea of where each of us is and how people can help each other. Of course the idea is that once the list is complete I will forward this to all of you, so that people can make contact with each other direct. If you know of people that should be on the list, please give me their contact details, so we can include as many people as possible. Also I would like to hear what you think about us starting an official Blacksmithing Guild or Association, and whether you would be interested in being a member. What would you expect from an Association like that. The idea of this initiative is not to make money at all, I just want to help grow the Blacksmithing craft in South Africa, and I believe that networking between Blacksmiths is a very important key to achieve this. Blacksmith greetings, Wim van Dijk, Hobby artist blacksmith

As usual we had a great time, we had a record number of smiths and families this year. We made a hemispherical sundial, of which you can see the pictures on the gallery under Blacksmithing events/ Wheels on the Vaal 2009. From Friday afternoon 16.00 hr till Sunday afternoon 17.00 hr we had a great time talking to each other, forging, demonstrating to the public, learning from each other, stretching our comfort zone in the art. We had good exposure, there was a TV crew of local TV channel Kyknet, that interviewed Coenraad, and took a few lovely shots of our area, while everybody was beating away. Wim was interviewed by countrywide Afrikaans Radio station RSG (Radio Sonder Grense). And there was a lot of interest from the public, also from people interested in starting to do Blacksmithing. The sundial is not completely assembled yet. There is about 4 to 5 hours left for 2 smiths, but once its all finished we will post some pictures of the final object. If you want to know more about building a sundial, and would like to know how to calculate angles and hourly pitches, I can give you some easy shop trig tips. It was a really nice project for a combined effort. There are a lot of elements for old fashioned skill, bur also nice things that accentuate the arty skill in people, something for everybody. http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/data/1043/thumbs/SDC10063.JPG I can't wait for next year! Wim.

How do you normally forge, inside or outside, under a shadow or in the open daylight. What are the whether conditions in your part of the global village, too hot or too cold. Would you like it differently? How important is working in the shade to you, to be able to spot the correct metal temperature. I for one enjoy outdoor work, it relaxes me and reminds me of why I came to Africa in the first place. Sometimes the sun is too hot to work in. Normally I keep my Blacksmithing work for later in the day, from 15.00 onwards. The evening twilight is quite short here, so by 19.30 it is already dark even in Summer. The area I live in is not too densely populated, so I can still make a noise, up to 21.00 hr. How about you? Wim

Hi Oz Hello Jeff, Glad to hear there's a couple of Blacksmith in the Last Outpost. Sorry to hear you feel all deserted. But hey 600 km is not that far, if you want to come up to attend a forge in or something we can accomodate you for a sleepover somewhere. There's guys coming over from Cape Town once a year. Let me know if you guys are interested, then I will keep yous in the Loop of any events. Blacksmith greetings, Wim

Dis goed om te weet daar is Blacksmiths in die Oos Kaap. Johan van Niekerk uit Port Elizabeth het ook al ingeskakel op iforgeiron.com Sy username is Johanvn. Dalk kan julle kontak met mekaar maak. As jy 'n keer wil deurkom na Johannesburg. laat my weet dit sal oulik wees om jou te ontmoet. Bel gerus as jy enige vrae het, as ek nie antwoorde het kan ek weer ander ouens vra. My nommer is 083 263 7325 Groete en nogmaals Welkom. Wim Nice to hear there are Blackmiths in the eastern Cape. Johanvn from PE is also a member at IFI Maybe you guys can make contact. If ever you are in Jo'burg let me know, would be nice to meet you. Please phone if you have any questions, there's always somebody that knows.:)

The annual Wheels at the Vaal exhibition is organised by Chevrolet South Africa, and is held on the grounds of the University of Vanderbijlpark. This year the event takes place on 4th and 5th September 2009. For many years the organisers have hosted our Blacksmiths group, and it has become the highlight of our Blacksmiths calendar. We are exhibiting the traditional craft to Blacksmithing to the public, be it in an artistic form, and hopefully inspire some to join the craft, as hobby or vocation. Project Sundial This year

Wheels on the Vaal, on the Grounds of the University of Vanderbijlpark, South Afrika.

This is the project we will be tackling on this years Wheels. You can start thinking of a nice element to do. See you there, Wim

The wheels on the Vaal event is fast approaching. This year we will have new combined project to complete with all the participating blacksmiths, over 2 days, and it will take place the weekend of 5th and 6th September, on the campus of the university of Vanderbijlpark, on the banks of the Vaal river. This year we will attempt a traditionally forged sundial. All the names of the participating smith will be punch marked on the endresult, as has become the tradition over the last years. If you are living or visiting in South Africa please watch this thread for more details, as I will place directions, a drawing of the project, and other participants are likely to also add their input to this thread. We certainly hope to see you there, the really wonderful event for any blacksmith, no matter what your level. I am at this moment in the UK, but will be there. For any questions, you can email me on wim@pfe-online.co.za Hope to see you there, blacksmith greetings, Wim